High-performance capillary electrophoresis in the biological sciences

Abstract

High-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE), the instrumental approach to electrophoresis, is a method undergoing rapid development at the present time. There is a high expectation that HPCE will become a widely applicable tool within the biochemical community. This review presents principles and instrumentation followed by typical applications of HPCE in the biological area. In the instrumentation area, particular attention is paid to current and future detectors, including laser-induced fluorescence and HPCE-mass spectrometry. In the applications section, both peptide or protein and oligonucleotide high-resolution separations are described for open-tube and polyacrylamide gel capillary columns. The use of isoelectric focusing and electrokinetic chromatography to manipulate separation is also presented. Future directions of methodology are suggested, and it is predicted that in the next few years HPCE will become a complementary tool to liquid chromatography and slab gel electrophoresis.